Cry in Different Languages
Discover 'Cry' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Cry
Afrikaans huil | ||
Albanian qaj | ||
Amharic አልቅስ | ||
Arabic يبكي | ||
Armenian լաց լինել | ||
Assamese কন্দা | ||
Aymara jachaña | ||
Azerbaijani ağlamaq | ||
Bambara ka kasi | ||
Basque negar egin | ||
Belarusian плакаць | ||
Bengali কান্না | ||
Bhojpuri रोआई | ||
Bosnian plakati | ||
Bulgarian плачи | ||
Catalan plorar | ||
Cebuano naghilak | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 哭 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 哭 | ||
Corsican pienghje | ||
Croatian plakati | ||
Czech plakat | ||
Danish skrig | ||
Dhivehi ރުއިން | ||
Dogri रौना | ||
Dutch huilen | ||
English cry | ||
Esperanto plori | ||
Estonian nutma | ||
Ewe fa avi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) umiyak | ||
Finnish itkeä | ||
French pleurer | ||
Frisian gûle | ||
Galician chorar | ||
Georgian ტირილი | ||
German schrei | ||
Greek κραυγή | ||
Guarani tasẽ | ||
Gujarati રુદન | ||
Haitian Creole kriye | ||
Hausa yi kuka | ||
Hawaiian uē | ||
Hebrew בוכה | ||
Hindi रोना | ||
Hmong quaj | ||
Hungarian kiáltás | ||
Icelandic gráta | ||
Igbo tie mkpu | ||
Ilocano agsangit | ||
Indonesian menangis | ||
Irish caoin | ||
Italian piangere | ||
Japanese 泣く | ||
Javanese nangis | ||
Kannada ಅಳಲು | ||
Kazakh жылау | ||
Khmer យំ | ||
Kinyarwanda urire | ||
Konkani रडप | ||
Korean 울음 소리 | ||
Krio kray | ||
Kurdish girîn | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) گریان | ||
Kyrgyz ыйлоо | ||
Lao ຮ້ອງໄຫ້ | ||
Latin clamoris | ||
Latvian raudāt | ||
Lingala kolela | ||
Lithuanian verkti | ||
Luganda okukaaba | ||
Luxembourgish kräischen | ||
Macedonian плаче | ||
Maithili चिल्लानाइ | ||
Malagasy mitaraina | ||
Malay menangis | ||
Malayalam കരയുക | ||
Maltese tibki | ||
Maori tangi | ||
Marathi रडणे | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯀꯞꯄ | ||
Mizo tap | ||
Mongolian уйл | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ငို | ||
Nepali रुनु | ||
Norwegian gråte | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kulira | ||
Odia (Oriya) କାନ୍ଦ | ||
Oromo boo'uu | ||
Pashto ژړا | ||
Persian گریه کردن | ||
Polish płakać | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) choro | ||
Punjabi ਰੋ | ||
Quechua waqay | ||
Romanian strigăt | ||
Russian крик | ||
Samoan tagi | ||
Sanskrit रुद् | ||
Scots Gaelic caoin | ||
Sepedi lla | ||
Serbian плакати | ||
Sesotho lla | ||
Shona chema | ||
Sindhi روئڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අ .න්න | ||
Slovak plač | ||
Slovenian jokati | ||
Somali qayli | ||
Spanish llorar | ||
Sundanese ceurik | ||
Swahili kulia | ||
Swedish gråta | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) sigaw mo | ||
Tajik гиря кардан | ||
Tamil கலங்குவது | ||
Tatar ела | ||
Telugu కేకలు | ||
Thai ร้องไห้ | ||
Tigrinya ምብካይ | ||
Tsonga rila | ||
Turkish ağla | ||
Turkmen agla | ||
Twi (Akan) su | ||
Ukrainian плакати | ||
Urdu رونا | ||
Uyghur يىغلاڭ | ||
Uzbek yig'lamoq | ||
Vietnamese khóc | ||
Welsh crio | ||
Xhosa khala | ||
Yiddish וויינען | ||
Yoruba kigbe | ||
Zulu khala |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "huil" is cognate with the Dutch verb "huilen," but in Afrikaans it can also refer to a type of bird call or to the sound made by a baby animal. |
| Albanian | The word "qaj" in Albanian comes from the Proto-Albanian word *klangō, which also means "to ring" or "to jingle". |
| Amharic | In Amharic the verb አልቅስ can also mean "to weep bitterly over the death or misfortunes of a friend". |
| Arabic | The word "يبكي" in Arabic also means "to weep" or "to shed tears". |
| Azerbaijani | The Azerbaijani verb 'ağlamaq' can also mean 'to lament', 'to mourn', or 'to whine'. |
| Basque | "Negar egin" literally translates to "to deny" in English, although it is also commonly used in the sense of "to cry". |
| Belarusian | The word “плакаць” can also mean to mourn, lament, or weep. |
| Bengali | The term “কান্না” (cry) in Bengali shares a common etymological origin with “ক্রন্দন” (cry) in Sanskrit, signifying a lament for loss. |
| Bosnian | The original meaning of "plakati" was probably related to the sound produced by crying, as a derivative of the Proto-Slavic root *plak- (*рлак). |
| Bulgarian | The word "плачи" can also refer to a type of Bulgarian folk song that expresses sorrow and lamentation. |
| Catalan | Catalan "plorar" derives from the Late Latin "plorare", meaning "to weep" |
| Cebuano | "Naghilak" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *tangis which also means "cry". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In modern Chinese, "哭" (kū) usually refers to the act of shedding tears, but it also has meanings such as "to howl" or "to whine". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character 哭 (kū) in Chinese can also mean 'to weep', 'to mourn', or 'to lament'. |
| Corsican | In Corsica, the word "pienghje" has an alternate meaning of "to ask for help or mercy" |
| Croatian | The word "plakati" in Croatian derives from the Proto-Slavic word "*plakati", which could also mean "to cry out" |
| Czech | "plakat" is also used to mean "to advertise" or "to advertise" in Czech. |
| Danish | The Danish word "skrig" is cognate with the English word "shriek" but can also refer to a type of bird. |
| Dutch | The word "huilen" has no other meanings in Dutch, but it is related to the English word "howl" and the German word "heulen". |
| Esperanto | The word "plori" is also used to describe the sound made by birds. |
| Estonian | "Nutma" derives from Proto-Finnic *nutta- "weep" and can also refer to shedding tears from joy or relief. |
| Finnish | "Itkeä" comes from the Proto-Uralic root *itkä- which means "to weep, to cry". |
| French | The word "pleurer" is derived from the Latin "plorare", meaning "to wail or weep". |
| Frisian | The Dutch word "huilen" (to cry) is not etymologically related to its Frisian counterpart "gûle". Instead, the word is thought to be of Germanic origin, possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *huljanan, meaning "to make a sound." |
| Galician | In Spanish, "llorar" also means "to cry", and it has the same Latin origin as "chorar" in Galician. |
| Georgian | "ტირილი" is also used as a term in Georgian folk music to describe a specific type of vocal performance characterized by its high-pitched, wailing quality. |
| German | German "Schrei" derives from Old High German "skrîjan" ("to cry out"), akin to English "shriek" and "scream". |
| Greek | The word "κραυγή" can also refer to an outcry or a cry of protest. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "રુદન" is derived from the Sanskrit word "rud" meaning "to weep" and can also refer to the sound of crying. |
| Haitian Creole | In Haitian Creole, "kriye" also means to shout or make a loud noise. |
| Hausa | The word "yi kuka" in Hausa primarily refers to crying out in distress, but it can also mean shouting, screaming, or even weeping. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word 'uē' also refers to the call of a pig, the bleat of a goat, and the hoot of an owl. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "בוכה" can also refer to the sound of rushing water. |
| Hindi | The word "रोना" can also mean "to lament" or "to weep" in Hindi. |
| Hmong | The word "quaj" is also used to describe the sound made by a gong or a bird. |
| Hungarian | "Kiáltás" has various meanings in Hungarian: scream, shout, cry for help as a noun and to scream, shout, call for help as a verb. |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "gráta" is etymologically related to the English word "groan" and the Irish word "grád", both meaning "love". |
| Igbo | In addition to "to cry", "tie mkpu" also means "to weep, lament, or mourn" in Igbo. |
| Indonesian | The word "menangis" derives from the Old Javanese word "nangis", which shares a root with the Sanskrit word "rud". |
| Irish | Caoin can also refer to an elegiac chant performed at Irish wakes and funerals. |
| Italian | The verb 'piangere' originates from the Latin 'plangere', meaning 'to beat oneself in mourning' or 'to make a loud noise'. |
| Japanese | The verb "泣く" can also mean "to weep" or "to shed tears of joy or sorrow." |
| Javanese | The word 'nangis' also has an alternate meaning of 'watering or soaking something'. |
| Kannada | "ಅಳಲು" can also mean "to beseech" or "to request". |
| Kazakh | The word "жылау" in Kazakh also has the alternate meaning of "to flow" or "to run (of a liquid)". |
| Khmer | The word "យំ" also means "to call out" or "to shout" in Khmer. |
| Korean | The Korean word for crying, 울음 소리, also has the meaning of a "wailing sound" |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "girîn" is linguistically related to the Kurdish root "gir-, gör-", meaning "to burn". This is also reflected in the word "girân" (heat), which shares the same root. |
| Kyrgyz | Ыйлоо in Kyrgyz originates from the Proto-Turkic word *jïl-, meaning "to call" or "to shout". |
| Latin | The word "clamoris" also refers to a loud noise or uproar in Latin. |
| Latvian | In Latvian, the verb "raudāt" is also used to describe the flow of tears in the eyes without accompanying vocalizations. |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "verkti" also means "to weep" and is cognate with the Latin word "lacrimare". |
| Luxembourgish | The etymology of "kräischen" derives from Old High German "kreischen" and the Middle Low German "krēschen" both meaning to shout. |
| Macedonian | The word "плаче" also has connotations of mourning, lamenting, or shedding tears out of sadness. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "mitaraina" is also used to describe the sound of running water. |
| Malay | The word "menangis" in Malay also means "to weep" or "to shed tears". |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "കരയുക" can also mean "to cry out (with joy)". |
| Maltese | The word "tibki" also means "a drop of water" in Maltese. |
| Maori | The word 'tangi' in Maori can refer both to a funeral lament and a state of deep sorrow or bereavement. |
| Marathi | "रडणे" can also mean a particular type of song in Marathi. |
| Mongolian | In addition to its primary meaning, "уйл" can also refer to a type of folk art that involves the telling of stories through melodies and rhythms. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "ငို" ("cry") is likely derived from Proto-Burushaski-Proto-Sino-Tibetan and can also mean "water, tears" or "to weep bitterly." |
| Nepali | The word "रुनु" comes from the Sanskrit word "रुद" meaning "to weep" and is related to the English word "rue" meaning "to express sorrow or regret". |
| Norwegian | The word "gråte" is cognate with the verb "to greet" or "to weep," possibly due to an association between crying and greeting. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Kulira" also means "to make a noise" or "to sound" in Nyanja. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "ژړا" also refers to the "act of lamenting" or "mournful singing." |
| Persian | In Persian culture, "گریه کردن" can have additional meanings beyond shedding tears, including emotional release and mourning. |
| Polish | "Płakać" is a Polish verb that can also mean "to flow" or "to drip". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "choro" in Portuguese is derived from the Greek word "choros", meaning "dance". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਰੋ" in Punjabi can also mean "to weep" or "to shed tears". |
| Romanian | "Strigăt" is also used in Romanian to refer to an alarm signal or a call for help, derived from the same Slavic root as "strig" (to shout). |
| Russian | The Russian word "крик" can also refer to a type of folk song originating in ancient Novgorod. |
| Samoan | The Samoan word |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scots Gaelic, "caoin" refers to both a "lament" or "cry" and a "poet" or "bard". |
| Serbian | The verb 'плакати' can also refer to a form of public protest involving the display of signs. |
| Sesotho | The word "lla" means "to cry" in Sesotho, and is also used to describe the sound of a crying animal. |
| Shona | "Chema" also means "ask" or "request" in Shona, often used in the context of asking for help or assistance. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "روئڻ" can also mean "to flow" or "to leak". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word "අ. න්න" (cry) is also derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "h₂reh₂-" (to split), as in "anguish" in English. |
| Slovak | In Czech, the word "plač" means "salary" in addition to meaning "cry" in Slovak. |
| Slovenian | The word "jokati" in Slovenian has its origin in Proto-Indo-European ’geghu-’, which also gave rise to the English word "yell" and the German word "johlen". |
| Somali | Somali 'qayli' also means scream, shout, or weep. |
| Spanish | In Spanish, “llorar” can refer not only to shedding tears, but also to making the sound of a crying baby. |
| Sundanese | 'Ceurik' in Sundanese can also mean a high-pitched sound, especially one made by animals or birds |
| Swahili | The verb kulia is also used figuratively in Swahili to mean 'to beg' or 'to plead'. |
| Swedish | It can also refer to weeping, sobbing, or wailing. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Sigaw mo" also means "voice" (e.g. the voice of a leader), or "expression" (of an idea or emotion). |
| Tajik | The Tajik term "гиря кардан” is also a homonym used in weightlifting, referring to a weight on the end of a barbell. |
| Tamil | The Tamil word 'கலங்குவது' can also refer to 'being disturbed' or 'being shaken'. |
| Telugu | The term "కేకలు" also signifies an expression of joy or excitement in Telugu, contrasting its primary meaning of sorrow. |
| Thai | ร้องไห้ is also used to refer to the sound of animals, such as birds or cats. |
| Turkish | "Ağlamak" kelimesi Türkçe'de gözyaşı dökmek anlamına gelmesinin yanı sıra, "yakarmak, yalvarmak" anlamlarına da gelir. |
| Ukrainian | The verb плакати and the noun плач are derived from Proto-Slavic plakati, a word indicating the sound of crying. |
| Urdu | The word "رونا" can also mean to lament, grieve, or mourn. |
| Uzbek | The word "yig'lamoq" in Uzbek comes from the Proto-Turkic word *yïγla-, meaning "to weep". |
| Vietnamese | In some dialects of Vietnamese, “khóc” can describe the sound a water buffalo makes. |
| Welsh | "Crio" can also mean "to shout" or "to give a speech". |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, "khala" can also mean "to wail" and is related to the Zulu word "khalaza," which signifies "a loud lament accompanied by weeping". |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "וויינען" (veynen) can also mean to lament or mourn. |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word "kigbe" can also refer to a loud, piercing sound made by animals or objects. |
| Zulu | "Khala" may also refer to a lament traditionally performed by Zulu men during a ceremony of mourning. |
| English | "Cry" can also mean to exclaim, plead, or acclaim. |